In a powerful, symbolic moment, President Obama stepped into the frame of Senegal’s infamous Door of No Return, through which shackled slaves passed as they left Africa for North America centuries ago.
Obama briefly looked out alone on the Atlantic Ocean from the doorway before Michelle Obama joined him.
Then daughters Sasha and Malia took in the view, and the president returned once more to the point that held a gangplank for slaves to board the ships that would carry them to a life of bondage in America.
Obama called his tour of the House of Slaves on Goree Island a “very powerful moment” that helped him “fully appreciate the magnitude of the slave trade” and “get a sense in an intimate way” of what slaves faced.
“This is a testament to when we’re not vigilant in defense of human rights what can happen,” he said.
“Obviously, for an African-American, an African-American president, to be able to visit this site, gives me even greater motivation in terms of human rights around the world.”
It was the second day of Obama’s first extensive African trip as president.
The trip hit a bump earlier yesterday when he made a pitch for gay rights and was bluntly rebuked by Senegal’s president, Macky Sall.
“When it comes to how the state treats people, how the law treats people, I believe that everybody has to be treated equally,” Obama said at a news conference with Sall in Dakar.
But Obama’s appeal, coming a day after the US Supreme Court’s historic rulings on same-sex marriages, is more controversial in Africa, where 38 countries outlaw homosexuality and four punish violations with death.
Senegal is “very tolerant,” Sall assured Obama, but is “still not ready to decriminalize homosexuality.”
He noted Senegal has outlawed capital punishment while other countries have not — a clear slap at the US.
Obama’s weeklong trip includes stops in Tanzania and South Africa, where his itinerary has been thrown in flux as former President Nelson Mandela, 94, remains in critical condition.
“If and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we’ll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages,” Obama said.
On Sunday, Obama is slated to visit South Africa’s Robben Island, where Mandela spent 18 years in prison.